Game apparatus.



R. M. FULLERTON.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.11. 19.13.

Patented J une 1, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

R. Nl. FULLERTON.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV17| |913. LQLQQ, Patented June 1, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

RWM mFbHeron S inv yze Tieren.,

BOBERTTM. FUILEBTON, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 1, 1915.

Application le. November 17, 1913. Serial No. 801,532.

To all whom t may concern: l

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. Formun- ToN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residmg at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State ofWashington, have mvented new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus,of which the following is a speclicatlon.

This invention relates to lmprovements 1n game apparatus and one of theobjects 1s to provide a game apparatus for in-door foot ball whereingame pieces are located and positioned during play, as a result oftotals obtained by chance means whlch may consist of thrown dice. L

A further object consists 1n provldlng a game board which is lined tosimulate a grid-iron or foot ball field abreast of whlch the game piecesare movable in readable proximity to the lines of the field. U

A further object is to provide a dlce throwing means which isincorporated in the structure of the game board and wherein the dice arethrown and manipulated in such a manner as to be visible to the playerbut 1naccessible to him.

The invention has other objects and features which will be more fullydescribed in' connection w'ith accompanylng drawings andwhich will bemore particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawings z-.Figure 1 is a perspective view of a game apparatusembodying one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line2-2 or Fig. 1. Fig. B is a sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4is a sectional view on line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a modified form ofone of the game pieces. Fig. 6 is a modified form of another of the gamepieces. Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing a modified form of mountingfor the game piece shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a form ofv mounting forthe game piece shown in- Fig. 5.

Likev characters of reference designate similar parts throughout thedifferent figures ofthe drawings.

As illustrated, 1 designates a board structure upon which a gridiron orfootball field is laid out, as indicated at 2. The distance betweenlines 2 represents-five yards and the distance between lines- 3vrepresents ten yards. If desired, goal posts-4 may be disposed in themanner shown to more effectively simulate an actual field. f

The game board is slotted, as indicated at 5, longitudinally andlaterally' centrally of the ield to permit of sliding movement thereinof a game piece simulatlve of a foot ball, and designated at 6. The football game piece is mounted for sliding movement in such proximity to theeld as to always lbe dis osed in reading proximity to the lines of whlchthe ield is composed. A base 7 extends downwardly through the slot 5 andis supported by a guide-way 8 'which is pendantly hun from the board 1as indicated at 9. Plne guide-way 8 is laterally slotted to permit ofprojection therethrough of actuating members for the foot ball gamepiece, which actuating members may be in the form of rods 10 attached tothe base 7. The rods 10 project through slots 11 inthe side walls 12 ofthe l ame board structure and they may be provided with flattened ngerpieces 13 whereby they may be grasped and shifted bythe layer.

The game board structure Iis provided with slots 14 which are laterallyor marginally disposed with respect to the field 2 for movement thereinof game pieces to represent linesmen, and whlch'are designated at 15.rThe linesmen game pieces are independently movable in the slots 14 andupon support l'which latter may take the form of angle strips of Z-crosssection. Operating members are provided for the game pieces 15 which mayconsist of rods 17 adapted to extend through slots 18, flattenedterminals 19 being provided for manipulation by the player.

' 1 may provide the board structure with a guide-way of the form shownat 20, in Fig. 7 a suitable filler 21 being detachably connected to the'board structure 22, by means such as ascrew 23. The foot ball game pieceshown in Fig. 7 willv be provided with a base 24, shaped to fit theguide-way so asto be manipulated by the ngers of the player in grippingthe ball 25. Likewise, I may provide a guide-way 26 for the modied formof linesmen game piece 27, the latter having a suitably shaped base 28.A filler 29 may be provided and anchored by means of a screw 30. Bymeans of the foregoing modifications I may dispense with the operatingmembers 1Q and 17, hereinbefore described. i

1t may be stated at this point, that one end of the foot ball may bedistinguished, visually, from the other end, by being suit ably coloredor marked as indicated at 3] Aswill be seen by reference to Fig. 5, th

linesmen game piece may be marked olf with one yard lines, as at 3 2, sothat the number of yards to go may be easily determined.v Furthermorethe center ofthe field is designated by suitable markin s 33 and ifdesired the yardage may be mar ed off throughout the length of thefield.

If desired, the board may be provided with horizontal depressions 34,laterally disposed With respect to the field, for use lby the players inshaking d1ce. I also provide drawers 35 in which the dice boxes andtheir contents may be disposed. Endwise of the ield depressions 36 alordholders for tally sheets or pads 37 and I may elongate said depressions,as indicated at 38 to facilitate removal of the latter.

A pencil retainer means is shown more particularly in Fig. 4 and thesame may comprise a chamber 39, formed by one of the board sides 12 andan extension 40 depending from the board structure 1 at a point inwardlyfrom the side thereof. A spring, which may be in the form of a leaf 411s fixed at 42 so that its free end will normally retain a pencilsupport 43 in the position shown. The pencil support 43 may comprise asheet of metal in strip form having one end ixed to the extension 40, asindicated at 44, and the free end 45 extendingl into a notch 46 formedin the side 12. An opening 47 affords means for inserting the pencil 48into said chamber and the su port 43 will normally hold the' penciltherein until the -free end 45 is depressed to permit of egress of thelpencil through the slot 46.

My invention also includes an improved dice shaking means which will be.described more particularly by reference to Fig. 3.

' A dice chamber 49 is formed by the side wall 12 and a depending wall50, the top wall of said chamber being composedof a plate of glassorlike transparent material indicated at 51. The dice 52 repose upon ashaker 53, which forms the bottom. of said chamber 49, and which ishinged at 54 to the wall 50. The iinger piece 55 extends through a slot56 in the Wall 12 'for actuation by the player. A spring 57 is connectedwith the shaker 53, at 58, and with the board structure 1, at 59. Itwill thus be apparent that when the linger piece 55 is depressed, andthen released, the spring 57 will return the shaker 53 to the positionshown in Fig. 3 in such an abrupt manner as to tumble the dice about onthe shaker in a manner to present various combinations visible throughthe transparent top 51.

As in the regular game of foot ball, the game piece 6 is rst located inthe center of the eld between points 33. One player then throws ortumbles the dice and this represents the kickoff and the distance whichthe ball is supposed to have been kicked off will be decided by thecombination presented by the dice, as provided in the selected rulesutilized. At the stage of the game as shown in Fig. 1, the ball 6 hasjust been kicked off from the end b the side X, and received at thetwelve-yar line Y. The linesmen game piece is then placed in theposition shown, the end y thereof being opposite the ball game piece 6.It will then be necessary for the side Y to advance the ball 6 beyond yin the four downs or throws of the dice, as provided by the rules. Thegame piece 15 being marked oil" with the one-yard lines, the number ofyards may be easily determined. The other linesmen game piece is notcalled into play until the side X receives the ball through a fumble orby holding the side Y in four downs, or on a kick.

It will be seen that the game is played with chance means, which ispreferably in the form of dice and that the play may be subject, in allrespectst0 the foot ball rules in vogue or any special rules that may beselected, and inasmuch as I have disclosed the structure of the gameapparatus on which the device of my invention is based, I do not thinkit necessary to further specifically detail any particular playingrules. While I have herein shown and described specific forms of myinvention I do not wish to be limited thereto except for suchlimitations as the claims may import.

I clAaim:

1. ame a paratus com risin a ame board lied to simulate a fooItballgfieldg and provided with a guide-Way portion running from goal togoal, a foot ball game piece slidable in said ide-way portion andproportioned to lie 1n reading proximity to the eld markings on saidboard, and means extending on opposite sides of the game board forsliding said game piece, substan-v tially as described.

2. A game apparatus comprising a game board lined to simulate a football eld, a foot ball game piece slidable centrally of the field fromgoal to goal, linesmen game pieces slidable marginally of the eld,independent devices extending laterally of the game board for operatingthe last named game pieces, and said first named game piece havingoperating devices extending to opposite sides of the board,substantially as described.

3. A game apparatus comprising a game board lined to simulate arectangular foot ball field and having a groove extending centrally ofthe ield from goal to goal and grooves extending marginally of the eld,a foot ball game piece slidable in said central groove, and linesmengame ,pieces slidable in said marginal grooves, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a game apparatus, a game board provided with a marked olf gameportion having a slot, said board being provided the latter insupporting engagement with Vthe bottom of saidbase to support the ,game10,l

piece with its upper portion in reading proximity to saidr game portion,the side walls of said guide-way having slots, and actuator rodsattached to the base of said game pice at their inner ends and extendingthrough the slots of said guide-way and said depending` sides andterminating in finger grips accessible from the exterior of saiddepending sides, substantially as described. 5. In a game apparatus, agame board provided with a marked oli' game portion and slots disposedcentrally and laterally of said portion, said board having dependingsides provided with upper and lower slots, a game piece slidable in saidcentral slot and having operating rods projecting outwardly through thelower slots of said sides, and game pieces slidable in said lateralslots and each having an operating rod projecting through one of saidupper slots of said depending sides, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I hereby aiiix mysignature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT M. FULLERTON. Witnesses:

HAROLD SGAN'ILEBURY, EDNA BRoY'LEs.

